sai vs bo

[Shorinryu Sensei]

i was just kind of assuming. i have no experience with the sai i just figured since they're shorter, you could move them quicker and move more naturally. but to tell you the truth, i don't even know that i've ever even held a sai before. so i'll take your word for it

 

That's OK bud. The bo is just a single weapon held by two hands and is just easier for a novice to handle than the sai is. The sai are heavy (or should be anyway if you have a decent pair), and for a novice, rather awkward to manipulate at first. It takes more time to learn to control and use them than it does the bo.

[yamesu]

bo can be thrown................quite effectively, especially if its tapered.

 

Osu.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

bo can be thrown................quite effectively, especially if its tapered.

 

Osu.

 

True...any weapon can be thrown...but if you don't hit and drop your opponent with that throw..you are now weaponless...and that's not a good thing if the other guy has a weapon or is a better fighter than you are. I wouldn't recommend it, and would consider it nothing short of suicide and an act of desperation to do so.

 

Personally, I would consider any sensei teaching you to throw your weapon (sai excluded of course), especially a bo, to not really understand basic fighting concepts and lacking in common sense. But hey, that's just me. Does he teach you to throw a pistol also, even if it still has bullets in it? Kind of the same thing. Or throw your knife in a knife fight? Bad choices for all of them IMHO.

[tommarker]

In Murakami's book "Saijutsu" he tells a very colorful anecdote about Tawada fighting against an opponent wielding a bo.

 

The advantage of the sai is the ability to trap the bo within its tines, or use the blade to bash the heck out of the bo weilder's hands.

 

I think a person using the sai would have be extremely fearless and have no second thoughts about entering into incoming strikes. Not a good plan when you don't know what you're doing, as most people would instinctively go backwards.

 

A beginner with the sai would end up with either one or both sai stuck in their posterior.

[yamesu]

True...any weapon can be thrown...but if you don't hit and drop your opponent with that throw..you are now weaponless...and that's not a good thing if the other guy has a weapon or is a better fighter than you are. I wouldn't recommend it, and would consider it nothing short of suicide and an act of desperation to do so.

 

Personally, I would consider any sensei teaching you to throw your weapon (sai excluded of course), especially a bo, to not really understand basic fighting concepts and lacking in common sense. But hey, that's just me. Does he teach you to throw a pistol also, even if it still has bullets in it? Kind of the same thing. Or throw your knife in a knife fight? Bad choices for all of them IMHO.

 

ok, i respect the fact that you study Kobudo, but i live in the year 2004, and ive never seen a Samurai walking the streets of my city, nor is it even legal to carry sai around in public, (you might get away with a bo-staff though,) ive never seen anyone use weapons to 'joust' or fight each other, again, in a Kobudo class it would be different i understand, but i practice techniques for fun as well as practicality, what if a would-be pickpocket or the like had successfully taken my wallet and had a 5-10meter lead before i was able to react...................id be quite willing to temporarily part w/ my weapon in an attempt to gain my money back via a spearing-style blow to the back of his head.

 

Osu.

[battousai16]

yeah, who has time to worry about ninjas and samurais when you have storm troopers to worry about?

[Shorinryu Sensei]

[ok, i respect the fact that you study Kobudo, but i live in the year 2004, and ive never seen a Samurai walking the streets of my city, nor is it even legal to carry sai around in public, (you might get away with a bo-staff though,) ive never seen anyone use weapons to 'joust' or fight each other, again, in a Kobudo class it would be different i understand, but i practice techniques for fun as well as practicality, what if a would-be pickpocket or the like had successfully taken my wallet and had a 5-10meter lead before i was able to react...................id be quite willing to temporarily part w/ my weapon in an attempt to gain my money back via a spearing-style blow to the back of his head.

 

You know, and I tell my students this also, you can "What if....?" a subject to death with different situations and variables. So, I'm not going there. There are two main reasons for not throwing a weapon.

 

1. Throw your weapon, and you no longer have it to defend yourself with.

 

2. Throwing your weapon at an opponent and missing, and he can pick it up and use it against you.

 

A good exampel of #2 is a knife. Toss it at an opponent and it doesn't land right and falls to the floor, or doesn't stop him...and now HE has the weapon.

 

As for not carrying a sia around with you...of course you won't. However, because you have trained with a sai, you can pretty easily incorporate the same moves and techniques using a stick, branch, or similar sized piece of wood, metal, etc. The practice of kobudo now days transfers pretty readily to everyday objects. It teaches you to manipulate "things" to use as a weapon....not just the weapon you are training with itself.

[yamesu]

A good exampel of #2 is a knife. Toss it at an opponent and it doesn't land right and falls to the floor, or doesn't stop him...and now HE has the weapon.[\quote]

 

uuuuuuummmmmm........I beg to differ, ive sent my knives through log-targets handle 1st many times....................and id like to see anyone fair against even the handle if it were directed at the cranium, try REALLY THROWING a throwing-knife into a tree, and see the extent of the impact.

As for not carrying a sia around with you...of course you won't. However, because you have trained with a sai, you can pretty easily incorporate the same moves and techniques using a stick, branch, or similar sized piece of wood, metal, etc. The practice of kobudo now days transfers pretty readily to everyday objects. It teaches you to manipulate "things" to use as a weapon....not just the weapon you are training with itself.

yeah, uuummmmm........thats why i study Arnis, and is what Arnis was created for, to have the options to use the weapons in your surroundings.

 

now im really just stirring, so dont take offence, please, as i previously noted, i do have a lot of respect for traditional Kobudo, but isnt modernising Kobudo taking the art further from its Budo roots?

 

I mean, i find the beauty of Kobudo comes from its tradition.

 

Osu.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

uuuuuuummmmmm........I beg to differ, ive sent my knives through log-targets handle 1st many times....................and id like to see anyone fair against even the handle if it were directed at the cranium, try REALLY THROWING a throwing-knife into a tree, and see the extent of the impact.

 

I've thrown knives and axes at targets for years. Sure, tossing knives at trees and targets is one thing, but get the adrenaline flowing, and a moving target that just might also be throwing things (rocks, knives, bullets) at you...that's an entirely different ball game. And the farther away your target is, the harder it is to throw accurately. 5', 10'...20'+? The farther away it is, the less accurate it will be. Hitting the cranium with a knife is a long shot at best, even from a close distance.

 

Also, unless the person has his back to you, he will see you chamber yoru throw and make an attempt to avoid it. Again, the farther away from you he is, the easier it will be to avoid. And then you've lost your weapon, and possibly any advantage you might have had against a more skilled opponent.

now im really just stirring, so dont take offence, please, as i previously noted, i do have a lot of respect for traditional Kobudo, but isnt modernising Kobudo taking the art further from its Budo roots?

 

I mean, i find the beauty of Kobudo comes from its tradition.

 

Oh heck, I never take offense to people speaking their opinions ... especially if they agree with me! I'm not talking about modernizing kobudo here. But the study of traditional kobudo easily flows into the useage of everyday objects to use as weapons. That's what I meant.

[Matousek]

Bo Definetly...